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New Study Offers Hope for Homeless People with Schizophrenia

December 3, 2015

Schizophrenia affects a little more than 1 percent of the U.S. population, but it’s much more prevalent among homeless persons. Estimates are wide ranging, but some go as high as 20 percent of homeless population. That’s thousands of people living with schizophrenia and experiencing homelessness each day.

Nearly 10 million Americans suffer from a severe mental illness (SMI) – schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or severe depression. Schizophrenia is generally the most stigmatized of these three disorders, and can be the most burdensome. The symptoms, which include hallucinations, delusions and sometimes incoherent speech patterns, often make it difficult for people with the disorder to maintain relationships, access treatment, or keep employment or housing.

Medicaid Crosswalk of Services Template

This resource, developed by consultant Carol Wilkins, is meant to help service providers and other stakeholders compare services delivered in supportive housing with services Medicaid can likely reimburse. This process of comparison is known as a “crosswalk” activity.

Tuberculosis and Homelessness: Not a Thing of the Past

November 24, 2015

In August, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention held a meeting in Atlanta with several representatives from emergency shelters, health experts, federal officials, and national homeless organizations to discuss the spread of Tuberculosis (TB) in homeless shelter populations.

TB can be a fatal disease; it is transmitted through the air and can remain in the air for many hours, which means that people staying in jails or shelters jails are especially susceptible to TB. Not only do homeless people spend extended periods in crowded shelters, they’re more likely to have compromised immune systems from living on the streets.

CMS to Medicaid Directors: You Can Use Medicaid to Help Homeless People

August 10, 2015

In June, the Supreme Court upheld Obamacare. That was good news for the almost 6 million people who would have lost their health care insurance if the ruling had gone the other way.

The ruling also meant that Obamacare is likely to remain intact. And with Obamacare in place, more and more states are likely to expand their Medicaid programs to cover people with low incomes, not just families or people with disabilities. This means that the majority of extremely low income and homeless persons can keep their access to health care in places that have expanded Medicaid. To date 30 states have expanded their Medicaid coverage. And other states may join the list.

Here are 6 Places that are Using Medicaid to End Chronic Homelessness

May 18, 2015

As communities are becoming more advanced in their efforts to end chronic homelessness they are taking steps to secure funding in systemic ways and from a variety of sources, including Medicaid.

Chronically homeless people make up just a small part of the overall homeless population (15 percent on a given night), but they are the hardest to help. All chronically homeless people struggle with serious physical or mental disabilities, including mental illnesses like schizophrenia and alcohol or drug addiction, that make obtaining and maintaining housing on their own extremely difficult.

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